Cairo  - Across the Arab world, many greeted Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential election with jubilation and relief.

But 10 weeks later, as Obama is sworn into office as the 44th US president and the first African-American to hold the nation's highest office, people from across the Arab world say they are greeting Obama's presidency with diminished expectations.

As fighting raged in Gaza over the past three weeks, the influential satellite news channel al-Jazeera ran photographs of Obama wearing a Jewish prayer cap, or yarmulke, on a loop alongside pictures of Palestinian children injured in the fighting.

Such images reflect, and perhaps inform, many Arabs' view of the new US president, although most say they believe Obama will be better than President George Bush.

"We held great hopes for Obama as the first African-American to become president of the United States," Majed Batti, a 37-year-old civil-servant from Dubai told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "We thought that his origins would push him to take a more moderate stance on the Middle East. But his silence on Gaza suggests the status-quo will prevail."

Asaad, a young grocer from the Jordanian capital Amman, put it more bluntly: "I believe Obama will not be very different from other US presidents, given his silence over the Gaza massacre. He will stand blindly with Israel," he said.

Mawledy al-Naqazy, a 57-year-old merchant from Tunis, expressed a similar view in still stronger terms: "It seems that the future of any American president, whether black, white, or yellow, is tied to pleasing the Jews and Israelis and collaborating in their crimes against the Palestinians."

Likewise, Al-Naji Wild Dahan, a merchant in Nouakchott, Mauritania, told dpa he did not have much hope Obama would change US Middle East policy.

"After all the destruction that happened in Gaza, the new American president should change the rigid Republican policies that brought hatred to America and the American people. These indications make me think that US policies will change, but we shouldn't hope too much," he said.

Mohammed Sorour, speaking to dpa from Beirut, said he thought Obama would "not change anything in US foreign policy. We have tested him during the Gaza onslaught. He kept silent throughout the aggression."

George Alam, a journalist for Beirut's al-Safir newspaper, told dpa that he thought "Obama's choice of a foreign policy team, especially Hillary Clinton for secretary of state and Rahm Emanuel for chief of staff, have raised doubts that we will see a change in American policy on the Middle East."

Given such diminished expectations, it is small wonder that many around the region said they were looking not to Obama, but rather to their own leaders, to solve their problems.

"Arabs should not depend on the US foreign policy that doesn't change and is determined by Israel. Arabs should seek their own unity to resolve their issues and not rely on a foreign power," Aziza Salah, a teacher from Libyan capital Tripoli, told dpa.

In the same vein, Syrian political analyst Sami Mobayed told dpa, "Obama will not be the saviour of the Arab region, but he will at least be more fair than Bush was."

Hossam Tammam, a civil servant from Damascus, was also happy that US President George Bush was leaving. "At least, with Obama coming to the White House, the nightmares of the Bush years are gone for good," he said.

Many people from across the region said they thought the Israeli- Palestinian conflict would take a back burner to domestic economic issues.

"I think Obama will focus on internal affairs and the burdens that Bush left for him," Riyadh Mohammed, a teacher from the Libyan capital Tripoli, said. "I don't think the Palestinian issue will be solved during Obama's term because of disputes between Palestinian factions and Arab leaders who failed to reach a unified decision."

Mohammed al-Hamaqi, a 26-year-old merchant from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, likewise told dpa that he thought "the economic crisis in the United States would be challenge enough for Obama."

For all the cynicism, however, some remained cautiously optimistic that the Obama administration would bring real change to US policy on the Middle East.

"Obama will behave differently from Bush as far as the Middle East is concerned," Khalid Humaidi, an engineer from Amman, told dpa. "I think he is going to commit himself to Israel's security, but at the same time he will try to be more even-handed in addressing the Middle East conflict - particularly if Arab leaders meeting in Kuwait now come up with a unified stand."

Maroun Sarkis, speaking to dpa in Beirut, predicted that "Obama will be the man of change and he will definitely try to balance the United States' foreign policy, especially towards the Middle East."

Yemeni political analyst Mohammed al-Moqala said they had more moderate hopes for the new US president. While the inauguration of an African-American president was a "historic moment for the United States," al-Moqala said, "We also need a bit of change in US policies toward the region, however small. If the United States becomes neutral in its dealings with the Middle East, that would be change enough for us."

At least one Algerian taxi driver, Jilani Mohammed, remained an ardent Obama supporter.

"Obama will reflect the real American principles of justice, freedom and democracy," Mohamed said. (dpa)